Pasteurizing methods and apparatus



July 7, 1953 J. A. 2055 ,7 3

PASTEURIZING METHODS AND APPARATUS Filed 001:. 5, 1950 s Sheets-Sheet 1 y 7, 1953 .J. A. CROSS v 2,644,758

PASTEURIZING METHODS AND APPARATUS FiIed Oct; 5. 1950 3 SheetsSheet 2 Jar 1110". Jase 1 Elma 1953 J. A, cRoss 2,644,758

PASTEURIZING METHODS AND APPARATUS Filed Oct. 5, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 milk products.

Patented July 7, 1953 II I 2,644,758 'igpssraomzmc mmnonsimnzaiirnmrirs Joseph AuGros's; Westerville, Uliio, assignor- -to Mojonnier-Bro's. (Jo. Inc., Chicago, 111., a cor- :p'oration of Illinois This invention relates "to improvements in methodsand apparatus for pasteuriz'ing milk and Among the products for "which this invention is especially well suitedareJ'whoIejm'ilk,skimnriilk,

cream, ice cream mix, iriixtures containingany offthe above, and partially"condensed products of any of the above. "Pasteiir-izingmethbdscOmmonly in use,'suc h as the heatingpf anyofthe above food products" to about 160 "Fffor11'5fsecends or tol'45 "Fffoi'l'30jmihiites'ffail to destroy bacteria completely. j"They merely "reduce the bacteria count to azpercefrita'g e or couritfapproved by local board's 'ofI'l'hea lth'," hiit "in'ma'ny cases the bacteria 'co'untr teuriz'ing treatmeiit. I

While it hasbeen' -known for some "tim'eithat temporaryiheating of the iorego'i'ngliquid "c'omestibles to such'hi'gher t'emp'eraturlesas -1'90 :Fito 300 F. will destroy or render harmless thereof the harmful bacteria; 'in 'fact' to the 'po'i'ntfof almost complete sterility} 1. it'gh'as' not been found practical to do"'so"b'ec"au'se df'thef e'f'y marked *cked fiav or which has always resulted heret'o'for'effromsuch. processing. "The present invention provides new" methods and apparatus for rpasteurizing which will. completely destroy bacteria, that i's, as"high'asi99f99% oi thebacteria'ryethot yield 'a product having'a co'okew'fiavor'. and alldf'the liquid'lcomea .tibles above mentioned,whichfjwillfbe u derstood to be comprehended vsiithin the arbitrarily fselecte'diterm fmilk prod'uctsfi as 'he'reinafter used, maybe 'efiectivelyfs'terilized to the extent (ifh'aving 99.99 10f their bacteria destroyed byheating to a temperature above -190"F. for 'a'i'peri'od of several seconds orfmore; But, to ac'ico'mplishthis ises 'after such pas- .pasteurizin'g at such unusually high' temperatures without imparting to the 'finalproducta cooked fiavor is a problem 'not heretofore satisfactorily solved'to the b'est'of myknowled'ge My invention aims in general to'provi'de a'n'e'w pasteurizing method j and apparatus, for substan- "tially completely destroying bacteria in milk products at temperatures above 190 F. and I yielding products lacking-"that cooked *fi'avor normally to be expected and usually "resulting from such high heating; Y I

Another "obj ect of the "invention to provide "a pasteurizing process and apparatus which will have the foregoing advantage-and additionally rid the milk products of other-odors or fla-vors,

among which 'are certainflavors resulting "from the -'eating by -the'-cows' o'f l'eeks and certain -c'1'overs,'-whi'ch vegetationf often imparts pungent I *and unpleasant -0d0rs I tothe milk 1 products.-

Another object" 'ofthe invention is-to make possible the accomplishment of the foregoing obje'tives with t'im'e 'savin'garid" space saving apparaltu's. Y I

"Other particular objects advantages of the invention will be mentionedhereinafter"oriwill become apparent up'on-a'perus'al of-the following specification in "which "a preferred form of the invention is' described for *illiistrativepurposes.

"Inthefirawi'ngs: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic layout of "a*pre fferre'd form of "the" apparatus embodying myin- "V'e'ritifin. II I I I I Figure '2 is "a Vertical "sectional View of the fjacketewcooling "and 'storage tank 9 which may I '-it-encouiiters-and min-tiles with water vapor se'paterrphsed at 22 in the line zl rated from preceding quantities of "superheated milk product, as will be' iufther iiisciis'se'dhereinj-after. For-the moment it is suificient toobs'erve that "the milk product, hy its contact with such vapor; becomes pr'eheated from its entering tem- I-he milkproduct, wl'iether 'homogenizedor not,

is pumped into the zsuperheat'er lgener ally design'ated as 3fwherein the'prodiict, flowing in two separate streams therethrough, is heated by indirect heat exchange with some heating medium such as steam to a desired temperature, which should be above 190 F. and preferably is some regulated temperature between 240 F. and 280 F.

In order to attain quickly a high pasteurizing temperature without burning the product on the tubes I prefer a superheater of the character herein shown; having top and bottom header plates 24 and 25.

The pipe 2| is connected to an inlet connection 23 for delivering the product into passage 21 in the top header 24 communicating with the distributor duct 28. I 7

The superheater has an upper tube sheet 29 and a lower tube sheet 30 in which are firmly mounted 36 stainless steel tubes of 18 gauge steel having a outside diameter and slightly over 4 inside diameter. The entering stream of product is delivered by the distributor 28, half going into tube 3| and half into tube 32. The positions where the ends of these and other tubes register with horizontal ducts such as 28, are indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, to clarify the distribution and flow of the product.

At the top of Fig. 2 the sectional view departs enough from a diametrical transverse section to show the tubes 3| and 32 which in reality are both somewhat lateral of the central sectional plane. Also, at the lower end of Fig. 2 the view 7 shows the lower end of tube 3| and the lower end of tube 33 into which the downward fiow from tube 3| is diverted by duct 3| to flow upwardly through tube 33. The upper end of tube 33 registers with one end of duct 33 in header 24, which diverts the upwardly flowing product into the top of tube 35 for downward flow into duct 35 in the bottom header 25, which latter duct delivers the product into an upward fiow tube 31.

Without further, numbering of the horizontal ducts in headers 24 and 25 and the position'sof the tube ends as shown in these headers in Figs. 3' and 4, it will be observed that the outer circle of tubes in the upper half Of Fig. 3, such, for example, as 3|, 35 and 39, are down flow tubes, while the inner circle of tubes, such as 33 and 31, are up flow tubes. Horizontalducts, such as 33, 31' connect these tubes at their upper ends. Hence, skipping a few tubes without numbering, tube "4| is a down flow tube which delivers into duct 4| in the bottom header 25 for delivery of that stream of the product into the up flow tube Referring now to the other stream which started downwardly in tube 32, that stream is directed by horizontal duct 32 into an up fiow tube 34 emptying into an upper duct 34'.

Hence the outer circle of tube ends shown in the lower half of Fig. 3 are up flow tube s. .Accordingly, tube 36 is an up flow tube, and both it and tube 43 deliver their separate streams into the horizontal duct 44 in the upper header 24' which thereupon unites the two separately heated streams and delivers them through duct 45 into the outlet connection 46.

While these two separate streams are being forced by the pump H3 at high pressure and high velocity through the narrow heating tubes they are subjected to heating by high pressure steam supplied to the heater 23, as follows. An automatically regulated steam pressure valve 41 regulates the flow of steam from a supply line 48, through pipe 49 into an annular space50 formed between an inner tubular shell and an outer shell 52. A continuous annular web 53 blocks downward fiow of the steam which therefore flows up over the top of the open ended shell 5|, then downwardly among the tubes. Steam condensate may be drained through ports 53 and together with all of the steam condensate is evacuated through pipe 54 and trap 55 in any suitable manner, while air and other non-condensibles are allowed to rise around the bottom skirt of shell 5| into the enlarged annular bulge 56 and are ejected through a pipe 57 in any suitable manner. Insulation 58 may be disposed between web 53 and'web 59;

The number of heating tubes employed as well as the size, length, and passage arrangement, is subject to variation depending on product being treated, the heating range required, and capacity desired. The drawings indicate the positions of two sets of tubes, 18 in each set, each set carrying half of the product entering the heater at 24, and delivering the two streams reunited through outlet 46.

If the pump delivers the product to inlet 24 at about 450 pounds per square inch pressure, a high velocity may be maintained through the entire length of the two sets of tubes, each tube in the example being 4 feet in length. The outlet pressure, where the superheated product flows from the tubes through a restricted orifice 60 will correspond roughly to the vapor pressure resulting from the selected temperature attained by the product as it completes its passage through the heater. Pressure drop due to friction dissipates most of the initial high pressure. The steam supplied to the superheater will be automatically regulated at such a pressure as to elevate the preheated product from its preheat temperature to the selected superheat temperature, and with the equipment herein described this can be accomplished while the prodnot is being pumped through the tubes in about 3 /2 seconds. Under these conditions burning on of the product upon the tubes is largely or entirely prevented.

The superheated product emerging through the restricted orifice 60 explodes into the chamber 6| which is maintained under a vacuum substantially identical with that in the preheater "3, this vacuum being maintained and regulated so that the unvaporized milk product is evaporatively cooled to a temperature of below F. The liquid product, that is, the final pasteurized product, may be withdrawn through pipe 62 by means of pump 63 and delivered for further cooling or other treatment or use.

The water vapor flashed off during evaporative cooling in closed chamber 6| flows through a large vapor duct 64 past the normally open valve 65, underneath the downwardly curved deflection bafiie 66 and thence upwardly for mixing with and condensation by the spray of incoming fresh I milk product.

The water vapor released in chamber 6| is recondensed by and into the incoming product, thus preheating the latter, temporarily diluting the preheated product roughly in the amount of about 10% by volume. This dilution is of course, terminated by the flashing off of an equal amount of water vapor subsequently in chamber 3|.

Byprecooling the fresh milk product between 32 F. and 50 F., preferably to about 40 F. the condensing effect of the product spray in preheater |8, aided by properly regulated ejection of air and other non-condensibles from tank l8 makes it easily possible to hold the vacuum low enough to evaporatively'cool the final pasteurized As an aid to the reduction in'entrainment "of By means of the steam-jetair'ejectorassembly including the ejector'nozzlef'61,"andpressuremegulator 58, adjusted to ej ect' air and *other n'oncondensible gases from the regenerative preheater i8 and assist in regu'latingthe vacuum 1 in the preheater at aipredetermined pressure, -'a number of desirable results are "accomplished. Air is drawn from the in-coming'spray of fresh "milk and ejected "from 'the system. -Air contained' in the water-vaporreceived fro'mthefiash chamber 6| is also ejected. Fresh*riiilkproduct 'entering' the vacuumized preheater I8 may con- 1 'tain odors, some "of'whichwillbe re'leasdirfthe tank IB'and othersnot soreleased."willbefiashe'd on" with the 'steam'inchamber 6 l *andreturnedto l8. All of these o'dorswilfbefdischargew'by'the ejector. 'Any cooked or*h'eated"'fiavorwhich the product may acquire in thefsuperheater; such. as 'sulphydrils, is "flashed err in chamber "61 and ejected bythe steam ejector 'from"the' preheater [8. It has been "note'cl'that While the discharge ofthe ej ector may"bearai'noticeable"cooked'iflavor aroma the final'product"delivered'iby pump '63 will have none.

Since it is important' to be sure'thatthe'pr'oduct is superheated to a selected temperature "afflow diversion valve 6 9 is interposedii'n .pipef'm leading to the flash chamber. 'At'thermostatic element 1 l is inserted in 'thisjpipe'and is connected .170 a combination "tem'peratureindicator'and co'ne 'trolleriz 'oiiwell known design and available on themarket' which serves, 'whenthei'pro'ducftemperature at H 'falls' below 'a fixed temperature, to operate valve69 todivertthe'flow fromioiitlet pipe "in 'into pipe "1'3 and delive'r'itfthrough "a restricted orifice "M 'back into lthe lpreh'ea'tjer.

The controller 72 will simultaneously act on'the air valve I15 to close valvelili. 'Thereup'o'n, the diverted product will be pumped "back again "through the ,preheater and such recirculation maintained until the desired superheated'temperature is attained to cause controller "to direct the, product'into the'fla'sh chamber byreoperating valveGQ, simultaneously "openin'g'valve aqueous 'vapor'by the tej ected 'airiabafilepf the type shown in Figure 5 may'wellbe employed. This ba'ffle, extending the full diameter of the upper part of the preheating chamber, has a'web '76 with openings at "intervals"much"as'at 11 and "18 with downwardly bent flanges'such as '19 and 80 adjacent these openings, abottom wall 8| having a central opening '82 "for the upward product in the preheater will'beab'out equal"to-' thetemperature drop of'the superheated product in the flash chamber. It is desirable thatrwhole milk be evaporativel'y cooled"to"below 160" F.

If the fresh *milk be preceoled to lo and after preheating be superheated-to 280 F. it

' pasteurizethem. =Aslight amount'ofwater' vapor in practice -will probably mingle --and escape with the *air but experimentation \has indicated "that this "amount can be held to about "0.1% or less of thewater content of these products, and this is'a negligible and unobj ectionable' amount.

, "As"the'ejector'ejects all-the non-=condensibles,

the vacuum maintained in the 'fiash sand preheater chambers may be determined "and controlled-by the'condensing action of the'precooled milk products solutions being treated. The vacuum, or degree a of sub-atmospheric pressure, being maintained may *therefore'be governed entirely by coordinating the temperature to which the product is precooled and. the temperature to which it is later *superheated and so coordinating 'them that" the product is 'evap'or-atively "cooled to such a -temperature -tliat it will not acquire a cooked *flavor at 1 which'temp'era- "ture "before it-can-be furtherco'dled, if necessary, after leaving theflash chamber 15L Abou-ti160 is considered a safe *and =proper maximum temperature to which whole milk should he evaporatively cooled I althoughthisitemperature "might 'be exceeded bya*few"degrees if it be promptly lowered outside the fiashchamber be- There 'may' be instances, however, whe'n the combined effect of the precoole'd temperature and the superheated temperature would pr'oduce a 'vacuum and therefore a itemperat'urex to :which the superheated product aevaporatively-rcooled, which i latter 1 temperature may i :be 1ower tl'iaiisis desired "for the discharge temperature #61 the pasteurized-product. For example if the user-:of the invention desires to homogenize the product "'af-ter "pasteurizing he might prefer to deliver lit: from the pasteurizer 'at' 1 40"-F.= or higher. If -the combined effect of the precooled and super- 'heated temperatures wouldnormal'ly caus t-the product to-evaporati-ve1yc001 the product to l30 ior example, th-isapparatusmayibe adjusted "to regulate the pressure in the iiash chamber "so i that the "product-will flash c001 tozsay' 1 40 'FJor 1-45"-"F.

"This'adjustment is accomplished by-slightl-y openingvalve lifi ('Fig. '1) "bymeansof handle 8l "to-'allow-a small" amount of '-air *to bleed into 1 the suction line 88 leading to the-ejector nozzle -fil.

Thereupon,-=a -small back pressure 'of unexhausted air can accumulate in the preh'eater, rai'sing the subatmospheric pressure,-and consequently rais- "ingthe temperature to which the -product'ais evaporatively cooled. A suitableplessure gauge 89 locatedas=shoWn-'or elsewhere{may be-employe'd for indicating this regulated pressuret The present inventiondi ffers in amumberccr significant matters from my prior Patent 2,498,836 issued February 28, 1950 and my copending application Serial No. 749,543 filed May 21, 1947, now Patent 2,548,776, issued April 10, 1951, each of which discloses regenerative heating of liquid comestibles for other purposes;

The apparatus shown herein is a practical and 'at present preferred embodiment of the equipment required for the practice of this invention. Nevertheless, some variations and departures from the disclosure may be adopted and some changes may be made in the methods employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention herein disclosed and claimed.

Having shown and described my invention, I

claim: 7

l. A continuous process for pasteurizing an aqueous milk product solution comprising spraying the solution at a temperature below 50 F. downwardly into a vacuumized chamber while heating the solution by condensing thereinto all of the water vapor flashed from precedingiquantities of the same solution superheated, pumping the thus preheated solution at high pressure and velocity in indirect heat exchange relationwith a heating medium to superheat it above 190 evaporatively cooling the superheated solution by discharging it into a second vacuumized chamber communicating with the first chamber,

separately discharging the evaporatively cooled product, discharging the vapor released during said cooling into said first chamber for mixture as aforesaid with said spray and direct condensing of the vapor to impose vacuum on the vapor in said second vacuumized chamber, ejecting un-- der vacuum from the first chamber air and other non-condensible gases and odors, and establishing the temperature to which the product is evaporatively cooled by coordinating the precooled temperature and the superheated temperature to maintain a vacuum at which the product may evaporate at about 160 F. or lower.

2. A continuous process for pasteurizing an aqueous milk products solution comprising precooling the solution to a temperature between 32 F. and 50 F., introducing the cooled solution in widely dispersed form into a vacuumized preheating chamber and intermingling it therein with all of the water vapor released during evaporative cooling of preceding quantities of the solution, pumping the preheated solution from said chamber and superheating the-same to above 190 F. while flowing at high velocity and high pressure, thereafter evaporatively cooling the heated solution by expansion into a chamber separate from but communicating with said first chamber and withdrawing the unvaporize-d solution from the second chamber, utilizing the vapor released in the second chamber for mingling with and preheating the incoming solution in the first chamber while condensing thereby substantially all of the vapor, separately ejecting under vacuum from the first chamber air, odors and other non-condensible gases derived from the incoming solution and released vapor, regulating said ejecting action to withdrawonly non-condensibles, and coordinating the superheating of the solution and the temperature of the incoming solution to maintain a pressure in the second chamber low enough to effect evap-,

orative cooling therein of the preheated solution to at least 160 F.

3. A continuous process for pasteurizing an aqueous milk product solution comprising precooling the solution to at least about 50 F.,

. 8 spraying the precooled solution into a vacuumized chamber and simultaneously heating the solution by commingling the spray with all of the water ,vapor obtained from evaporative cooling of preceding quantities of solution treated as herein set forth, pumping the thus heated solution at high pressure and velocity and heating the same by indirect heat exchange to above 190 F., thereafter evaporatively cooling the superheated solution by discharging it into a vapor expansion chamber communicating with said first chamber, "continuously withdrawing the evaporatively cooled solution from the expansion chamber, delivering o the first chamber the vapors evolved from said evaporative cooling, withdrawing under vacuum the non-condensible gases as they'accumulate in the first chamber, and regulating the evaporation temperature of the solution in said expansion chamber at an upper limit of about F. by controlling the temperature of, the incoming solution.

4. A continuous process for pasteurizing an aqueous milk product solution comprising precooling the solution to at least about 50. F., spraying the precooled solution into a vacuumized chamber and simultaneously heating the solution by commingling the spray with all of the water 'vapor obtained from evaporative cooling of preceding quantities of solution treated as herein set forth, pumping the thus heated solution at high pressure and velocity and heating the same by indirect heat exchange to above F., thereafter evaporatively cooling the superheated solution by discharging it into a vapor expansion chamber communicating with said first chamber, continuously withdrawing the evaporatively cooled solution from the expansion chamber, delivering to the ,first'chamber the vapors evolved from said evaporative cooling, withdrawing under vacuum the non-condensible gases, and regulating the evaporation temperature of thesolution in said expansion chamber by jointily controlling the temperature of the incoming solution and maintaining a pocket of non-condensible gases in the top of the preheating chamber to partially counteract the condensing action in that chamber. V

'5. A continuous process forpasteurizing an aqueous milk product solution comprising precooling the solution to at least about 50 F., spraying the precooled solution into a vacuumized chamber and simultaneously heating the solution by commingling the spray with all of the water vapor-obtained from evaporative cooling of preceding quantities of solution treated as herein set forth, pumping the thus heated solution at high pressure and velocity and heating the same byindirect heat exchange in about 3 seconds to above 190 F., thereafter evaporatively cooling the superheated solution by discharging it into a vapor expansion chamber communicating with said first chamber, continuously withdrawin'gthe evaporatively cooled solur 6. Apparatus for pasteurizing a milk product solution comprising a preheating chamber, means for spraying precooled solution downwardly in said chamber, a superheating chamber having relatively narrow heat exchange tubes and means for pumping thereinto at high velocity and high pressure solution withdrawn from said preheating chamber, a vapor expansion chamber and means including a restricted orifice therein for delivering superheated solution into the expansion chamber, means for superheating the solution flowing through said tubes, means for withdrawing under vacuum from the expansion chamber the unvaporized solution, means for delivering into the preheating chamber for upward flow therethrough the vapor released in said expansion chamber, and means for withdrawing under vacuum from the upper part of the preheating chamber the non-condensible gases accumulating therein.

7. Apparatus as described in claim 6 wherein the superheating chamber includes a plurality of tubes of small diameter arranged to receive and direct the flow of the solution in more than one stream to a common outlet.

JOSEPH A. CROSS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hass v Dec. 13, 1938 OTHER REFERENCES Number La Grange, Illinois, 1926, pages 123', 124, 156 

1. A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR PASTEURIZING AN AQUEOUS MILK PRODUCT SOLUTION COMPRISING SPRAYING THE SOLUTION AT A TEMPERATURE BELOW 50* F. DOWNWARDLY INTO A VACUUMIZED CHAMBER WHILE HEATING THE SOLUTION BY CONDENSING THEREINTO ALL OF THE WATER VAPOR FLASHED FROM PRECEDING QUANTITIES OF THE SAME SOLUTION SUPERHEATED, PUMPING THE THUS PREHEATED SOLUTION AT HIGH PRESSURE AND VELOCITY IN INDIRECT HEAT EXCHANGE RELATION WITH A HEATING MEDIUM TO SUPERHEAT IT ABOVE 190* F., EVAPORATELY COOLING THE SUPERHEATED SOLUTION BY DISCHARGING IT INTO A SECOND VACUUMIZED CHAMBER COMMUNICATING WITH THE FIRST CHAMBER, SEPARATELY DISCHARGING THE EVAPORATIVELY COOLED PRODUCT, DISCHARGING THE VAPOR RELEASED DURING SAID COOLING INTO SAID FIRST CHAMBER FOR MIXTURE AS AFORESAID WITH SAID SPRAY AND DIRECT CONDENSING OF THE VAPOR TO IMPOSE VACUUM ON THE VAPOR IN SAID SECOND VACUUMIZED CHAMBER, EJECTING UNDER VACUUM FROM THE FIRST CHAMBER AIR AND OTHER NON-CONDENSIBLE GASES AND ODORS, AND ESTABLISHING THE TEMPERATURE TO WHICH THE PRODUCT IS 